Maurice Kanbar

Maurice Kanbar
Born	1930 (age 80–81) Brooklyn, New York[1]

Maurice Kanbar (born 1930)^[2][3] is an American entrepreneur and inventor who lives in San Francisco, California. He is particularly well-known for his creation of SKYY vodka, and is also noted for his extensive real estate investments.

Biography

Kanbar is stated to own 36 patents on various consumer and medical products, invented the D-Fuzz-It comb for sweaters, Tangoes Puzzle Game, the Safetyglide hypodermic needle protector, a cryogenic cataract remover, a new LED traffic light, and Zip Notes,^[4] rolled sticky notes with a centerline adhesive strip.^[5] He created New York's first multiplex cinema, the Quad Cinema, which was the first movie theater in Manhattan to have four small auditoriums in one building.^[6]

In the beverage industry, Kanbar had a success with SKYY vodka,^[7] also introduced Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur^[8] and most recently has launched Blue Angel Premium Vodka.^[7]

He produced the animated film Hoodwinked! which was released in January 2006^[9] and grossed over $100M worldwide.^[7]

Kanbar owns many commercial buildings in Tulsa, Oklahoma.^[10] His extensive investments in Tulsa led to a legal dispute with his former business partner Henry Kaufman, with each suing the other.^{[11] [12]} At one point Kanbar's company was reported to have owned as much as one-third of all available office space in downtown Tulsa^[13] although some of these properties were subsequently sold or reported to be for sale.^[3][14]

Kanbar is a graduate of Philadelphia University, where he studied Materials Science. In 2005, he donated $6 million dollars for the construction of the school's new campus center, the largest donation in the school's history.^[15] In 1997, Kanbar donated $5 million to the Tisch School of the Arts, part of New York University, which named its film school after him: The Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television.^[16][17] Through a donation from the Kanbar College Charitable Trust, Kanbar Hall was constructed at Bowdoin College, the alma mater of Maurice's brother, Elliott.^[18]

Kanbar owns and lives in an eight-story residential tower in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco; he received attention for his 1999 decision to evict his tenants in order to become the sole occupant of the building.^[19] He is a member of Mensa.^[20] He has received honorary degrees from Kenyon College,^[21] Bar-Ilan University,^[22] and Yeshiva University.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Maurice Kanbar, Doctor of Humane Letters, Yeshiva University website (retrieved March 2, 2010).
2. ^ Copyright registration for Maurice Kanbar, Secrets from an inventor's notebook (accessed March 2, 2010).
3. ^ ^{a b} Robert Evatt, "Downtown Tulsa investor a man of many passions", Tulsa World, December 3, 2010.
4. ^ Zipnotes.com
5. ^ "Zip Notes Sticky notes on a roll", OPI.net (Office Products International), October 18, 2007 (accessed March 2, 2010).^{[unreliable source?]}
6. ^ Edward Lewine, "New Yorkers & Co.; The War of the Film Worlds", New York Times, December 7, 1997.
7. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.northsidesf.com/mar09/features_coverstory.html
8. ^ Mark Athitakis, "Crushed", SF Weekly, April 11, 2001.
9. ^ Dennis King, "Review: 'Hoodwinked' ", Tulsa World, January 13, 2006.
10. ^ http://www.kanbarproperties.com/about-us
11. ^ Robert Evatt, "Kanbar sues former business partner", Tulsa World, August 16, 2007.
12. ^ Robert Evatt, "Kaufman countersues ex-pal Kanbar", Tulsa World, May 16, 2009.
13. ^ Robert Evatt, "Building a portfolio", Tulsa World, June 14, 2006.
14. ^ Robert Evatt, "Kanbar selling assets to push development", Tulsa World, March 2, 2010.
15. ^ "Philadelphia University to Dedicate The Kanbar Campus Center on Saturday, September 30", Philadelphia University press release, September 27, 2006 (accessed March 2, 2010).
16. ^ Monica Roman, "Kanbar gives $5 mil to NYU film school", Variety, April 10, 1997.
17. ^ http://filmtv.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html
18. ^ http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1bowdoincampus/002964.shtml
19. ^ Emily Gurnon, "Eviction Shock in Pacific Heights", San Francisco Examiner, July 27, 1999.
20. ^ American Mensa (PDF). Famous and Notable Mensans (whitepaper). http://www.us.mensa.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=6509&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm. Retrieved 2007-10-15. 
21. ^ http://www.kenyon.edu/x31748.xml
22. ^ Edon Ophir, "The Inventor Who Makes Movies", Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2008 (also available here).

External links

• Maurice Kanbar at the Internet Movie Database

Bibliography

• Secrets from an Inventor's Notebook, by Maurice Kanbar, Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-200056-6

Persondata
Name	Kanbar,Maurice
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1930
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Date of death
Place of death